By Bob Roberts Jr.
If you don’t know me, you might suspect a white evangelical pastor from Texas might be displeased by the recent appointment of a Muslim, Imam Mohamed Magid, to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. After all, Imam Magid and I have profound theological differences: there are many extremely important matters of faith where I think he’s wrong – and vice versa.
But we do not need to compromise or relinquish our respective theological beliefs in order to work together for the good of the community. One area where we do agree — him from the teachings of his Islamic faith, me from the principles of the Christian Bible which is my highest authority – is that all people should be free to practice their religious beliefs without interference. And so I couldn’t be more thrilled by the appointment of my dear friend Magid, who joined me and Rabbi David Saperstein to found the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network.
Our multifaith coalition is a model for how faith leaders can find common ground and create change for good despite significant differences. In a time of polarization that seems to be tearing America apart, faith communities can show our political leaders how to bridge our stark and very real national political divides, especially on an issue where we need bipartisanship the most: immigration.
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